Chapter 14:

It had been over a week since Bill left town in the middle of the night. The townspeople had no news of him, but Hickam was doing a very good job as the backup sheriff.

Abigail had had a lot of work as mayor the last few days and not much time for herself. She kept seeing Henry on the sly and she could not talk to Theo about how she really felt. Not because she was not sure how she felt, far from it, she was sure what she wanted now: and that was Henry. No, Theodore has been almost unreachable lately. He always had things to do like paint for his exhibition or chat with Michael Vance. Abigail did not blame him; she knew his job was very demanding and that it was a source of stress for him. Besides, she would have liked to be able to spend more than five minutes alone with him to talk to him about Henry.

Abigail was at the cafe that afternoon. Cody was at school and was going home soon, so she decided to make him his snack. She finally had a little time to breathe after this crazy week.

As she was busy in the kitchen, she heard the back door of the cafe open. She turned her head and saw Theo smiling at her. He had a bouquet of red roses in his hands.

"Abigail."

Theo closed the door behind him and walked straight to Cody's mother. He handed her the bouquet of flowers, smiling.

"To make up for not having been very present this week." Theodore smiled with a guilty face.

Abigail smiled as she took the roses from him. She brought them to her face to smell their delicious scent.

"Thank you, Theo." Abigail said as she walked over to her bookshelf.

She took an empty vase, filled it with water, put the roses in it and put it on her table. She came back to Theo with an anxious face. It was time. It could not last out of respect for Theodore, for Henry, and for herself. He was there, he did not seem to be pressed for time this time around, so she had to do it.

Richardson saw Abigail's expression change. He frowned looking at her. He approached her and put his hands on her arms.

"What is happening? You look tense to me." Theodore asked worriedly.

"Theo…" Abigail hesitated. "I need to tell you something."

Then, the cafe door suddenly flew open, revealing Bill Avery.

"Mister Theodore Richardson. You are under arrest for theft, fraud, and breach of trust in more than fifteen different cities." The town Sheriff said firmly, handcuffing a startled Theo behind his back.

"I beg your pardon ?!" Mr. Richardson panicked.

"But what's gotten into you, Bill?" Abigail rushed to his side and tried to stop him from taking Theo with him.

"Very well." Bill said. "Mr. Richardson, I leave you to explain to our mayor the truth? I'm waiting for you outside. But I warn you, if you try to run away, I will find you sir." Bill said menacingly as he temporarily removed Richardson's handcuffs.

Theo nodded at Bill then turned to Abigail as the latter came out of the cafe, but still left the door open.

Abigail looked at Theodore with a confused face.

"Theo?"

Theo looked at her but said nothing. His mouth was totally dry.

"Tell me that's not the truth."

"I'm sorry, Abigail." Theodore looked down at the floor. "I…"

Abigail did not hear the end of Theodore Richardson's sentence. She did not hear his justifications. She was dizzy. Then she realized that the money she had donated for Theo's exhibition was a prank. She understood that there was no exhibition. She realized that Hope Valley was about to get ripped off. And, as if stuck on an automatic button, Abigail pushed Theo out of her cafe, screaming.

"Go away! Clear!" Abigail shouted when they were on the doorstep of her cafe. "I never want to see you again! You laughed at me!"

The townspeople saw the scene unfolding near the cafe. Most stopped, completely surprised at the attitude of their mayor. They had never seen her so angry. Rosemary and Florence were on the street and started running towards Abigail when Bill stopped them.

"Wait, Abigail, I'll explain, I didn't make fun of you!" implored Theodore as he was pushed out of the cafe.

Then, suddenly, Abigail slapped Theo in the face as her closest friends and townspeople looked on. No one spoke and Theodore backed away in shock. Bill thought that was enough. He approached Richardson, put the handcuffs back on him and said:

"Come on, I'll take you to the sheriff's office where Mr. Vance is already waiting for you, warm, also in his cell."

Bill yanked him to the side and dragged him away from Abigail, who lay prone, red with anger and tears in her eyes. She could not move anymore. Rosemary and Florence came up to her and took her by the shoulders to bring her back inside the café.

Cody's mother sat down in a chair at the kitchen table and huffed in shock. Florence and Rosemary simply sat down next to Abigail. If she wanted to talk, she would. They were just there to support her.

That same evening, Elizabeth went to see Abigail. She had heard what had happened during the day. She was completely in shock. She did not know why Mr. Richardson had been arrested but she had never trusted him anyway.

When she landed in Abigail's kitchen, she found almost all her friends there. There was Clara, Jesse, Florence, Molly, Rosemary, Lee, Carson, and Faith. Her best friend was sitting at the kitchen table while everyone else was standing around her.

Her friends turned to her as she walked into the kitchen. She greeted them quickly and walked over to Abigail.

"Abigail is everything okay?" she asked cautiously.

"I go as I can." the town mayor said slowly.

"Where is Cody?"

"He's upstairs. I told him we were having a little party." Abigail tried to smile.

Elizabeth nodded. She wanted to ask questions, but she did not want to rush her best friend who was having a hard time. Abigail had great confidence in her childhood friend, and he had betrayed her. She understood that she might only need the support of her friends and not questions.

Elizabeth was watching Abigail when the kitchen door opened a second time. They all looked towards the door to see Bill entering the room.

Abigail suddenly stood up and rushed over to her friend.

"Bill! You need to explain to me what happened! It's a mistake." Abigail implored with tears in her eyes.

"No, Abigail, it's not a mistake. I will tell you everything." Bill then addressed the other people in the room. "I beg you to go away please. I need to talk to Abigail."

"No, I would like them to stay. I want them to hear what you must tell me about Theo."

"Very well." Bill conceded. "You should sit down, Abigail."

"It will be fine." The town mayor said firmly as her close Hope Valley friends looked on.

Note: So, so? Did you expect this? Maybe? What is Bill going to say about Theodore Richardson and his sidekick Michael Vance?